An escalator is chosen differently from a lift. A lift sits in its shaft and rarely catches the eye, while an escalator carries thousands of people every day in the middle of a sales floor, and everyone sees when it stops. So the first question is not "which one is cheaper" but "how many people must it handle, and for how many hours a day".
Who Canny are
Canny Elevator was founded in 1997 in Suzhou and has been listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange since 2010. Yes, it is a Chinese manufacturer, and we do not hide it. But it is no small workshop either: in 2025 the company produced 3,228 escalators, with a workforce of about 4,700. Its reporting is public, so these figures can be checked.
Projects the manufacturer showcases
The most telling are the transport projects, because that is where an escalator works under the toughest conditions.
- Suzhou Metro: over a thousand heavy-duty KLXF series escalators across lines 1, 2 and 4.
- New Delhi Metro: 291 heavy-duty public transport escalators.
- A railway station in India: 68 public transport escalators.
- Metro stations in Turkey: 76 escalators.
- Tianmen Mountain, China: 19 panoramic public transport escalators in a tunnel, 16 of them with a 30 m rise. For this project the company took first place in the "Escalators, New Installation" category of the Elevator World Project of the Year awards (2015).
Data on these projects comes from the manufacturer's 2016 presentation. According to its 2023 presentation, the highest rise among its escalators is 50.4 m. You are unlikely to need one like that, but it shows well what its engineers are capable of.
How to choose a model
- Shopping or business centre: the commercial series is usually enough, with an 800 or 1000 mm step.
- Railway station, metro, major transport hub: a heavy-duty series for intensive daily operation.
- Outdoor installation: protection against moisture and frost is discussed separately.
- Rise: up to 6 m, a 35-degree incline can be used at speeds up to 0.5 m/s, and it takes up less space. Above that, 30 degrees is used.
Before pricing, we need the floor-to-floor height, the size of the floor opening and the expected passenger flow. If the building is still at the design stage, it is best to show us the drawings before the floor slab is poured.
Documents
If an escalator is manufactured to DSTU EN 115-1:2019 (EN 115-1), it comes with a declaration of conformity from the manufacturer or its authorised representative, and no separate certificate from a conformity assessment body is needed. After installation, a technical inspection is carried out and the owner obtains the right to operate it, as it is high-risk equipment. We show you the list of documents for the specific escalator before the contract is signed.
What we do
We work under the LIFTPORTAL brand: we survey the building, select the model, price the supply, install, commission and then maintain the equipment. The site survey and pricing are free of charge.